Ten new ‘hotels’ for bees are going up in neighbourhoods around Nottingham this week, ahead of World Bee Day on Thursday.
An apprentice at Nottingham City Homes has created the hotels and these ‘Air Bee ‘n’ Bees’ are being placed in ten sites across the city to help increase the population of bees in local neighbourhoods.
They are being installed in places like Lenton, Bulwell, Mapperley, Radford, The Meadows, Sneinton and the city centre.
World Bee Day, which takes place on Thursday 20 May 2021, aims to raise awareness of the importance of bees and beekeeping. Scientific studies have proven that bees have become increasingly endangered. They are one of the major pollinators and they significantly contribute to reducing the severity of climate change.
In the long-term, the protection of bees and the beekeeping sector can help reduce poverty and hunger, as well as preserve a healthy environment and biodiversity. Scientific studies have proven that bees have become increasingly endangered.
In the city, there has already been lots of work happening to save the bee’s as part of Nottingham City Council’s Bee Friendly initiative, including providing more flowers for foraging and more habitats for nest sites, relaxed mowing and bee-friendly information packs for schools, plus much more.
These new Bee Hotels are also going up as part of NCH’s Decent Neighbourhoods programme – which is about improving and investing in local neighbourhoods to make them better places for everyone to enjoy
All ten hotels have been built by one of NCH’s Apprentice Joiners Carl Finn. It is all part of his apprenticeship – teaching him joinery skills that he can then later use when working on people’s homes.
Nick Murphy, Chief Executive at Nottingham City Homes, said: “The bee population is declining and we have been looking at ways to prevent this from happening in our local neighbourhoods and these Bee Hotels are perfect to help us mark World Bee Day.
“Not only have these been built by our talented apprentice Carl, but NCH tenants have been vital in deciding the locations of these hotels and have welcomed our plans to make estates more bee friendly. Plus, this is all part of a wider push to improve the natural environment of our neighbourhoods.”
Sally Longford, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Energy, Environment & Waste Services at Nottingham City Council, said: “We are working with many organisations to make Nottingham a “bee friendly” city by providing habitats for these vulnerable creatures. On World Bee Day, I would encourage everyone to think what they could do to encourage bees into their gardens”.
“We have pledge to increase bee-friendly environments in all 20 city wards and these new ‘Bee Hotels’ from NCH will help towards us reaching our goal – which is creating even more inviting places for bees to make their home in the city.”
Find out more about ‘Bee Friendly Nottingham’ here – www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/bees